


Playing the Monster

by randomdork11



Series: Skin Deep [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Bit of a twist on their ending, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kind of alternate but not really, Post-Episode: s01e12 Skin Deep, Regina is here but only for a moment, Rumbelle - Freeform, Season 1, The Enchanted Forest, mostly cannon, oh so much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-13 21:51:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14756957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomdork11/pseuds/randomdork11
Summary: Rumpelstiltskin makes a life altering decision concerning his former maid. The consequences of those actions lead him to losing Belle to a fate more cruel than death. Can True Love really stand up to any obstacle?





	Playing the Monster

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah so I'm pretty bad at summaries so yikes! But anyway important information to know: This takes place after the events of Skin Deep. Gaston was never a rose and Belle was never captured by Regina. Nefarious plots take place leaving our beauty and her beast in a very precarious situation with the clerics.

Two clerics entered the room dragging a prisoner between them. It was obvious that the men on either side of the creature were the only thing keeping it on its feet. As the odd group neared the throne of the large war room, the younger cleric shoved the creature to its knees in front of a beautiful young woman. The prisoner remained hunched over refusing to even raise his head in acknowledgement of the woman in front of him. The rags he wore did little in the way of covering him. The young Lady could see new and old whip marks crisscrossing his back, as well as numerous bruises, cuts, and burns covering almost every inch of exposed skin. She hadnt realized that such marks would show on his strange skin, but it appeared that even monsters could bleed. To most in the room this was a pleasant sight; the Dark One finally reaping the punishments he so rightly deserved. An end brought to his menacing reign. Tellingly there were tears caught in the eyes of only one. Hanging propriety, the knight’s daughter crouched onto her knees in front of him immediately.

 

“What have they done to you?” she asked placing a hand on the imp’s shoulder, noting how badly he flinched as she did so. The young beauty could feel constant tremors running through his body that she hadn't been able see.

 

“I’ve rather lost track at this point,” he quipped still refusing to look up at the beauty.

 

His voice was gruff, sounding far more human than she could ever recall. The imp’s hair hung in messy curtains obscuring his face. The knight's daughter longed to look into the eyes of the pitiful soul in front of her. Hoping that she would find something hopeful therein. But he steadfastly refused to look up at her. Unable to stand it any longer she reached out and pushed his matted locks out of his face. With that he raised his head ever so slightly. More tears pooled in her eyes as she took in the sight of him, yet she refused to let them fall here. He’d been beaten ruthlessly. That much was apparent by the swelling and gashes that covered his face. Adding that to the other injuries she’d already seen made the whole situation all the more horrifying. It had barely been a month.

 

“You look awful,” she whispered to her former master, gently running her fingers along his marred cheek. Despite the pain it surely caused, he leaned into her touch as if it was the last kindness he’d ever know. If She heard her father's protest behind her, she ignored it choosing to keep all her focus on the man in front of her.

 

“Yes well, I’d wanted to clean up for you but apparently we were in a bit of a rush,” the imp quipped once more. He gave her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes before turning serious, he reached up gently grabbing her wrist.  “Belle, there’s- “

 

His words were cut off in a grunt of pain as one of the clerics stationed behind him pulled him back by the hair. “You’ll keep your filthy hands off her,” the cleric hissed at the same time Belle yelled, “Release him.”

 

Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes before replying to the cleric softly, “Yes master.” The cleric released the imp, shoving him back into a heap on the floor.

 

Unable to hold them back any longer, tears ran down the beauty’s face as she reached down to help him back onto his knees. “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. This is all my fault. I-” she rambled until he stopped her.

 

“This isn’t your fault,” he assured her looking her in the eye for the first time. She could see agony shining out through amber eyes. “It’s okay… or it will be.”

 

“I don’t understand,” she replied shaking her head.

 

“Belle, th-there’s something I have to tell you…” he seemed to be fighting for the right words to say. She grabbed his hand – making certain the clerics saw that it was her who moved to him – to encourage him along. Taking a deep breath, he bared his soul knowing how it would end and yet completely unable to find a worthwhile loophole. “Belle, I enchanted you while you were at the Dark Castle.” Confusion masked her face as he continued, “I realized that I cared about you and couldn’t bare to have you reject me. So, I slipped a potion into your tea one morning. All the feelings you have right now… they aren’t real. They’re manufactured.”

 

Belle’s jaw dropped as she realized what he was saying and better yet, what he was doing. “That’s ridiculous,” she intoned as he dropped his gaze back to the floor. “Magic can’t make someone fall in love. It’s one of the most basic laws.”

 

“As ever you’re correct,” a bit of the imp began to creep its way into his voice. He was preparing to put on a show, but she could tell his heart wasn’t fully in it. “However, there are potions and spells which can make a person fond enough of another to believe that they are in love.”

 

“You’re lying,” she challenged.

 

“I don’t do that,” he chided coldly.

 

She intentionally moved her hand slowly to his chin letting him see that she was about to touch him. He flinched anyway but at least this time it was less dramatic. Carefully she lifted her true love's head until she held his gaze once more. “Sometimes you do, and I know how to tell when you are.” She lowered her voice and leaned towards him so that her next words were heard by him alone, “Are they making you do this?”

 

He closed his eyes and gave the slightest nod, “In a way.”  His words were softer than hers and she barely heard him.

 

“Belle back away from the beast,” her father’s protests broke over her, “he’s just admitted to a heinous crime involving you."

 

What was left of her heart shattered at the pained expression on her True Love’s face as her father condemned the imp's love for her. “Father,” she began hotly, only to have the clerics pull Rumpelstiltskin back to his feet as she turned her head away.

 

“Time to fix your mess Dark One,” the older cleric urged giving the imp a shake. “We’ve done enough talking.”

 

Rumpelstiltskin looked ridiculously unsteady on his feet as the clerics released him. Belle stood as he took a hesitant step towards her. She cleared the space between them in an instant, wrapping her arms around his waist and refusing to heed the objections of her father, the clerics, or Gaston. She held the Dark One gently not wanting to hurt him further, but she felt his arms wrap tightly around her in response. For a moment, what may well be the last, she felt completely safe and secure. Theirs had not been an easy road but Belle knew that she’d walk it a thousand times over if it meant meeting and caring for the ridiculous man who currently held onto her as if she was the world.

 

“What are you going to do to me?” she asked turning her face into his neck so that this conversation remained privately between them.

 

“I’ll wall off any happy memories of your time at the Dark Castle. I can’t remove them permanently, at least not without hurting you.”

 

“So, I’ll remember you?” she asked hopefully.

 

Reluctantly Rumpelstiltskin pulled away from her then, pushing her arms away with a broken smile. When they were still close together but no longer in each other's arms he answered, "You will.”

 

***

She was absolutely stunning in that moment. Even with eyes red from crying and holding back those tears that had yet to fall. Dressed in a beautiful golden ball gown, she looked almost exactly as she had on the day they’d met. Beautifully breathtaking in every manner. But theirs was never a story intended for a happy ending. She could do so much better than him and he could never deserve happiness with her. He was most certainly already getting a taste of what he deserved at the hands of the clerics. No, a beauty like her should not be shackled to a beast like him. This was for the best.

 

“How will I remember you?” His Belle was nothing if not clever and she'd noticed that he was purposefully leaving out something significant.

 

“The important thing is that I’ll always remember you,” he whispered softly. "Just as you are right now. You’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me and you deserve far more than I could ever give you.” Without giving her a chance to say anymore he turned to the older cleric, “I’ll have to touch her to remove the enchantment.”

 

The cleric eyed him in a suspicious fashion that screamed he’d be paying for these few moments with Belle later. But whatever they had in store for him would be worth it. He’d gotten to see her one last time, gotten to hold her and feel her touch once more. It was better than he could have hoped for and he would pay whatever price such a moment came at.

 

With trembling hands he reached up to cup her face. For one final moment they gazed into each other’s eyes before he closed his and pulled at the endless depths of his magic.

 

“I love you,” she whispered before the spell began to take hold.

 

His heart soared at those words. Too little too late, but the acknowledgment that another person could truly feel such for him – however limited – was a beautiful feeling. “And I love you,” he breathed feeling his own tears begin to fall.  

 

The imp walked through each of her memories of their time together. He walled off anything of that time which qualified as even remotely happy. Until she was left with nothing but fear, disgust, and anger. Yet try as he might there was the tiniest bit of warmth that even he couldn’t quench. No amount of power thrown at it could remove the small amount of hope left in those memories. It shouldn’t matter, he knew, the other feelings were overwhelming enough to dampen that hope without trouble.

 

Once Rumpelstiltskin finished his work he lingered for a final moment, soaking in the heady pleasure of being so close to her. The warmth of her skin on his hands. Then with a great effort he pulled away from her, feeling his legs give out from the exertion of the last few minutes. The rush of magic had given him a momentary sense of power once again, but now that it was gone all that remained was the sheer agony reminding him of all that his body had been put through this past month.

 

Several moments passed as Belle slowly came back to herself. Her eyes losing their cloudy quality, growing clear and sharp. Every soul in the room watched her with baited breath. Rumpelstiltskin told himself not to look up, knowing what he would see in her eyes, yet he couldn’t help himself. He raised his head to look up at the beauty who’d become the only light in his life. A myriad of emotions played across her face as she looked down on the imp at her feet. He thought the lack of recognition in her eyes would be the worst, but it was the fear turned to hatred and disgust that nearly killed him.

 

“What did you do to me?” she asked her voice low with anger. Had his heart been in fewer pieces he would have enjoyed the irony in the direct change in her questioning.

 

Rumpelstiltskin pulled his curse around his soul like a cloak in an attempt to play his part. She couldn’t remember that he loved her, it was safer for her this way. He had to make her believe him if he wanted her to stay out of the hands of the clerics. “I enchanted you dearie. Now that I’ve had my fun, I’m done with you.” His heart wasn’t in it, but he doubted that anyone else could tell. The only person who could have no longer mattered.

 

Belle took several steps back from him and flung herself into her father’s arms. She was terrified of him. That cut deeper than he’d ever believed it could. “Why would you do that?”

 

“It’s what monster’s do,” the imp shrugged hoping that his flippant nature would hide everything else.

 

“Remove that creature,” Sir Maurice shouted as he moved in front of his daughter. Pointing a stubby finger at Rumpelstiltskin he continued, “Take that thing away from my daughter. Put it in the deepest pit you can find.”

 

The clerics pulled him roughly to his feet and marched him from the room. The last thing he saw as they took him away was his True Love in the arms of the buffoon who’d started all of this.

 

“Take us back to order,” the younger cleric commanded as soon as the great doors closed behind them.

 

Rumpelstiltskin did as commanded, a soft “Yes master,” echoing out before a cloud of maroon smoke took them away.

 

They arrived back in the same hellhole he’d left not an hour ago. The reprieve (if one could call having your heart ripped out a reprieve) had taken more time than he had imagined. Once the man gained his bearings, the older cleric spun the imp around and pulled a certain dagger from its sheath. “You’ll pay for everything you did to her Dark One. Everything you did to her and all that you’ve done to others. We’ll purify the darkness inside of you yet.”

 

Rumpelstiltskin merely nodded as they stripped him and chained him back to the wall he’d spent the last few weeks getting to know so well. He concentrated on his plans to get back to Bae as they resumed torturing him. He could do little else while they had control of the dagger, of his very soul. He’d set everything into motion before coming here, he only had to last a little longer and then he’d be free to find his son. The imp continued telling himself that as long brutal days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. Before long he lost count as everything faded into darkness.

 

***

 

She held onto Gaston as the Dark One was led away. Belle couldn’t remember exactly why she was here or how she'd gotten here, but she knew it had something to do with the treacherous beast here father had warned her about. Rumpelstiltskin had proven himself just as horrible as all the stories said he was, Belle knew that much for certain. Yet there’d been something so broken about the way he looked up at her. Something that just didn’t fit-

 

“Belle are you okay?” Gaston’s voice overrode her thoughts.

 

She nodded a bit shakily, “I’m fine Gaston, thank you.”

 

“That beast is never going to hurt you again,” he said gently pulling her chin up so that she had to look at him. “I won’t allow him to.” Something gleamed in her fiancé’s (ex-fiancé?) eyes that sent a chill up Belle’s spine. He had a hungry look about him as he stared down at her.

 

The beauty shook away her sense of foreboding. Gaston had come to the beast’s lair and rescued her. He’d saved her from that horrible, terrifying place. Yet despite her own reassurances, her father’s insistences, and Gaston’s bold words; she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was missing something important. Like she’d lost a piece of herself when the monster had left.

 

***

 

3 Years Later

 

He’d been shackled to the wall once again with his arms pinned behind him, but at least this time he was sitting. Regardless of the position they left him in his body constantly ached, so it didn’t really matter how they left him, but he would take these rare moments when he could. _Think about the curse_ the former spinner thought to himself as he fought his way back from the precarious edge the clerics treatment had left him on. If he could focus on the curse, on his way to Baelfire, he could hold onto the little bit of soul he had left. If he lost that focus, he would find himself at the complete mercy of the Dark One. Then he would never get back to his son. Rumpelstiltskin had lost all sense of time while in the hellish prison he now called home. But he knew that the curse would be cast soon, very soon. Regina had paid him a visit not too long ago.

 

_“It’s just us now dearie,” he called to the rodents crawling along the floor outside his cell. “You can show yourself.”_

_The Queen appeared before him stepping out of swirl of purple smoke. She’d been scurrying around for quite some time now, waiting for the clerics to leave him. She cracked her neck and gave her mentor a delighted smirk, “I must say, I rather like this look on you Rumple.”_ _The Evil Queen walked up to the bars and peered through at the Dark One who was currently hanging limply in chains with his arms pulled above his head. His feet barely touching the floor._

_“As always I appreciate your input, your majesty,” he answered attempting with all his might to allow the imp control. If he could mask the pain, he could manipulate her into giving him what he so desperately desired._

_She’d wanted help with the curse of course. Rumpelstiltskin had known she would and he planned for this moment accordingly._

_“What do you want?” Regina snipped. He could see her already bracing to find loopholes in his request._

_“In this new land, I want a good life”_

He’d given her the information she required and had exacted his price. It wouldn’t be much longer now. As he sat battling his way back from the edge of insanity he heard footsteps heading towards him. Rumpelstiltskin couldn’t stop the tremors that began forcing their way through his body as his thoughts turned to the clerics. No matter how many times they came to hurt him, no matter that he finally understood that he deserved all they did to him, the coward in him was always terrified of the pain. He tried to shift, to make himself as small as possible, but the shackles around his ankles and arms kept him well in place. The iron collar around his neck which had been bolted into the wall ensured that he couldn’t so much as hide his face as his torturers came towards him. All he could do was close his eyes and brace himself.

 

However, the footsteps stopped just outside his cell. After several long moments of waiting the imp opened his eyes and peered at the figure in front of his cage. He so rarely had visitors, Snow White and her Charming prince had been the last and that had been… well who knew how long ago. Yet this one didn’t seem afraid as she, for it was definitely a female, looked down at the fearsome beast laid so very low.

 

As she moved closer, something about her bearing and movements rang familiar to the imp. Perhaps if his once clever mind wasn’t so frayed by agony he could have figured it out sooner, but it wasn’t until the small figure moved to the wall to take down a torch that he realized who she was.

 

“I had a dream about you,” she said her voice still so heart stopping and beautiful.

 

The torch moved closer to her face as she moved to crouch down right outside the bars. The woman was wearing a memorable green traveling cloak that covered here from head to foot. The mixture of dark and light greens made ger eyes dance as she lowered the cowl. He’d given her that cloak knowing that she’d need one in the harsh winters around the Dark Castle and believing it would extenuate her eyes so wonderfully. She was so very close to him in that moment. Closer than she had been in however long he’d been down here. Rumpelstiltskin could see that she looked a bit older now. There were worry lines in her face that hadn’t been there when he’d last seen her. Her hair was a bit thinner as was she, almost unhealthily so, but she was still as breathtaking as the moment he’d first seen her.

Thoughts of her crept up on him occasionally. Generally, he’d tried to block all thoughts of the beauty from his mind. Thoughts like that only tortured him further. The clerics brought her up every now and then. Reminding him how he’d enchanted her, how he’d hurt her, and violated her mind. In the beginning he was certain that they were all lies, but as time had moved forward and as his mind frayed further under the constant onslaught of agony he’d started to believe it. So why would she be standing here now if not to exact her own revenge on him. But her soft eyes held no anger, pity perhaps, but no anger.

 

“Belle,” he whispered her name like a prayer.

 

***

 

The Dark One didn’t look so ferocious to her. Not here covered in blood and bruises and chained to the wall in what had to be an uncomfortable position. He simply looked broken down and defeated. It had been three years since she’d last seen him, three years that he’d spent paying for his crimes. Belle had tried several times to come and see her old master. To ask him why she felt so conflicted when it came to him.

 

By all rights and according to everything she was told she should hate him to his core. Should hope to never see him again. Yet she couldn’t. Something in her remembered the look he’d given her after breaking her enchantment. The small amount of hope she’d seen in his eyes that had quickly been dashed and something that looked and felt like yet simply couldn’t have been love. She could remember her time at the Dark Castle. Could remember some of the awful and cruel things that he’d done and said. She remembered being angry at him and being afraid of the Dark One, but she couldn’t hate him. Something about her memories of that time felt so incomplete. Belle hoped talking with Rumpelstiltskin could shed some light on that feeling.

 

However, each time she had tried to visit the imp, she’d been thwarted. Either by her father, the clerics, Gaston, some servant or another. Her own fear had even stopped her several times. It was as if fate or someone else was conspiring to keep them apart. Yet today she’d made it. She finally found her chance when the clerics were out aiding her father and Gaston with preparations for the annual ball celebrating her return. It was only fitting that she should return to see the Dark One today on the anniversary of her homecoming.

 

He seemed to recognize her as she moved towards him torch in hand. She couldn’t decide how to start a conversation with the most feared being in the realm, so words simply poured from her mouth, “I had a dream about you.”

“Belle,” his voice came softly to her, so very different from the one she remembered and so similar to the one she’d heard in her dreams. Rumpelstiltskin’s voice was low, so very human. He said her name like it was a prayer. Like it was something precious.

 

“Yes, Dark One it’s me,” she called him Dark One out of habit, but it felt so wrong leaving her lips.

 

However, using his title seemed to bring him back to himself a bit. “What are you doing here,” he asked. The beauty could tell that he was trying to sound imposing, but he didn’t manage to mask the anguish evident in voice.

 

For some reason or another her heart ached to hear him attempt to hide such distress. “I had a dream about you,” she said again.

 

“So, you said,” he dropped his gaze from her face, allowing his head to fall as far as it could while being chained to the wall behind him.

 

He was chained to the wall to her left. Close enough that when she adjusted the torch to get a better view of him she could see just how battered he was. The torchlight caused his odd golden skin to glint the darkness, highlighting the areas of his body that were covered in bruises or his own blood. Considering everything she was surprised to see that he was still alive, let alone conscious enough to carry a conversation. He flinched as she moved the torch closer to him, so she quickly moved it back, casting him back into the shadows a bit. Guilt stole through her as she took in the imp’s condition.

 

“I didn’t know that they’d…” Belle wasn’t sure how to make him understand that she hadn’t known what all they had done to him. She waved a hand at him hoping to make him understand.

 

“What that they'd punish the horrible beast who's plagued their lands for centuries? It's not that surprising,” Rumpelstiltskin picked up his words full of a resignation she hadn’t expected.

 

“It's still horrible,” she replied.

“Not when you consider that the monster deserves it,” the imp answered.

She could feel the self-loathing rolling off him. Regardless of what they said he had done to her she knew he deserved better. “No one deserves this.”  


He chuckled darkly at that, "Not even the beast who took you from your family, tricked you into believing you'd fallen in love with him, and planned to keep you as his own forever?" His face darkened for a moment before he continued in a softer tone, "I know you didn't know Belle. You’re not the kind to stand idly by while… well while…”

 

“While someone is tortured,” she added finishing his sentence.

The imp nodded before continuing, “Put into a cell forever, maybe you could stomach that. But even then, here you are.” He gave her a bitter smile that looked more like a grimace than anything else.

 

“You seem to know an awful lot about me,” the beauty prodded as she made herself more comfortable in front of the bars. The Dark One simply bobbed his head in confirmation.

 

The beauty and the beast sat in the quiet for several long moments. Neither knowing what to say or how to feel about the other yet knowing that they both felt right in those moments. “The clerics will return soon,” Rumpelstiltskin cautioned her finally breaking the quiet. She noted that he stiffened at the thought of the clerics returning as if preparing himself for the next round.

 

“We’ve a little left. I sent them out on a very specific mission today. I know how long they’ll be away,” Belle explained watching as the tension drained from him at that knowledge.

 

“You wanted this little chat then? Something about you dreaming of me?” he implored. “Having nightmares dearie.”

 

“Yes, I mean, no not nightmares! But a dream. Well more than one really. I can’t quite figure them out,” Belle plunged on before she could lose her confidence about broaching this subject with the monster who’d allegedly kidnapped and manipulated her. “I have several different dreams about you, well about us. They’re always the exact same and they feel… they feel so real. Like, almost like a memory instead of a dream. But I don’t remember them ever actually happening.”

 

She could tell the imp was intrigued. His eyes took on an intelligent glint and something akin to hope or fear formed there as well. “What happens in these dreams?”

“Well in one of them…” she paused feeling ridiculous about explaining something so personal to a deranged sorcerer.

 

“It’s okay,” he urged, “what more can I do to you from here?”

 

His logic was sound, he couldn’t hurt her physically, still… “In the dream,” she continued deciding to go ahead with her mission (it was why she’d gone to all this trouble after all), “I’m on a ladder. Pulling at curtains or something like that. And then I fall. A long way. But you’re always there to catch me.”

 

Rumpelstiltskin sat up as straight as possible in his condition, he was fully alert now. “What about your other dreams?”

 

Slightly encouraged she continued, “In another you save me from an octopus, a dragon, and a dalmatian, but that one’s pretty ridiculous,” she smiled slightly laughing at herself. “Then there’s one where you and I are sitting on that long table near your spinning wheel, just talking. I actually remember you torturing a thief that came to the castle, but in my dreams, I also see you sparing his life. There are others, but those are the most common. Those and…” she bit her bottom lip stopping herself from going any further.

 

“There’s another one as well?” he asked quietly leaning forward as far as he could without choking himself. She nodded in return not answering. He held her gaze steadily. He seemed to be searching for something in her, something buried very deep. “In this other dream, are we… are we sitting…,” he didn’t want to scare her away. Didn’t want to make her believe it was all part of the false enchantment. But he had to know. “Are we sitting at my spinning wheel? The big one in the main hall.”

 

She nodded again as she continued to chew on her bottom lip. “I’ve just come back to you. You’d let me go and I, well I came back. Why would I do that?”

 

“Why indeed? Is that all that happens?”

 

“No, I kiss you.” Rumpelstiltskin looked dumbfounded at that revelation. So astounded that she backtracked immediately. “I-I m-mean it’s silly, it’s just a dream I know that, but-”

 

“No,” he moaned quietly cutting her off. “Belle.” She found that she rather liked the way her name sounded coming from him. Always as though it was special but, in this instance, as though it was the final breath of a drowning man. “They aren’t just dreams Belle. Gods it’s a memory. Your real memories.” She could see tears shining in his eyes before he leaned his head back against the wall.

 

“So not vestiges of some enchantment you put me under then?” Belle asked hopefully. He shook his head in answer. She wanted to believe him so badly. They always felt more like memories than dreams. They weren’t fuzzy or hollow like dreams, they were sharp and had deep feelings associated with them. “I think I love you,” the words slipped from her before she could stop them.

 

Rumpelstiltskin’s jaw dropped ever so slightly before a true smile crossed his face. It made him look more human than anything she’d seen so far. “I know I love you, always have,” he replied softly.

 

Before they could get any further they heard the door at the end of the hall creak open. Rumpelstiltskin couldn’t hide the fear in his face this time. “You have to go,” he implored panic filling his voice as he leaned towards the bars. Shifting so that he didn’t hurt himself while begging her to go.

 

“What if I refuse to leave you here,” she answered stubbornly grabbing the bars of his cell.

 

“I’m not worth the trouble it will bring you. Please Belle.” The footsteps were growing closer, but he must have seen he wasn’t making any headway. “Everything I’ve done, I did to protect you. Please don’t let that be in vain. Please go now.”

 

Belle felt her heart drop to the floor as she thought about leaving him. Regardless of whether she could believe him or not, she now knew what leaving him to the clerics entailed. “I’ll come back for you. I swear.” She said as she stood and replaced the torch in it’s bracket. With one last look Belle turned away from the imp. She slipped along the hall and into a shadowy alcove just in time for the clerics to pass her by unnoticed.

 

Taking a deep breath as she heard the door to Rumpelstiltskin’s cell opened she slipped down the hallway and out the door. She’d be back. She’d find a way to free him.

 

***

 

The clerics let him drop to the floor in a trembling mess, giving him a moment to compose himself before they continued. He curled in on himself trying to contain his whimpering. They didn’t like it when he showed such human emotion, but damn it all there was still a man under his curse. A man still buoyed by the fact that a beautiful woman he’d thought was gone forever retained her memories of him. His body screamed in protest at the rough treatment, but his spirit felt a little less broken. She’d promised to return; his Belle would come back. He had to hold onto that belief or he would crumble.

 

Then he felt the world shift. He could feel the release of a massive source of power even though it was enacted kingdoms away. Rumpelstiltskin had planned for this. He’d made certain that the curse would take him, that the curse would tie the dagger back to him, that he would be able to wake from under the curse. But he hadn’t planned for his True Love’s refusal to give up on him. Now they would be back to square one. Back to being apart for 28 years. He was going to the land where Bae was and that made him happier than he’d been in a very long time. But for the first time since his discovery of the Dark Curse, he wished that it could’ve waited just a little while longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously I had some Rumbelle feelings to work through after that series finale and this was the result. It's pretty much a one-shot at the moment, but I do have a few other strings that I might follow on this one. So if you enjoyed it feel free to let me know. Thanks for reading. 
> 
> I also have to take a second to say how sad I am to see Once go. It has been such a passion of mine for the past few years and it's been one of the only shows I've managed to steadily stay with for a long period of time. I've met some awesome people through this fandom and I hope it's a fandom that continues existing long after the show is over. Anyway much love to all the Oncers.


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